Mike Cohn：你的团队与业务伙伴地位平等吗？

你的团队与业务伙伴地位平等吗？

你曾告诉你的业务伙伴他们要求的截止日期不可行吗？他们有说无论如何都要做到吗？如果是这样，那么存在权力不平衡。

在许多组织中，业务人员权力最大。他们说什么就是什么。如果他们坚持一个截止日期，开发团队无论如何都要做到。

也有些组织中开发团队权力大些。开发人员可以拒绝不可能做到的交付。

哪个极端都不好。

相反，领导者应当致力于创造权力平衡的文化。当权力平衡时，问题就成了大家共同的问题。

当问题成为共同的问题时，双方就会共同寻找答案。一些可能的解决方案是：

• 砍掉一些功能

• 加人

• 延长日期

• 移除团队的其他工作

• 或上述方案的组合
  

但如何取得权力平衡呢？最好的办法是提供确切的估算。

假设一个团队估算很不靠谱，他们说一个项目需要3个月，而实际上花了4个月。另一个项目他们说需要5个月，实际上花了8个月。而下一个项目他们说要4个月，实际花了3个月。

这样的团队抱怨截止日期不可行，你还会信他们吗？

当然不会。这样的团队不足以信。

但你会相信一个估算靠谱的团队。他们有信用。他们说截止日期不可行，业务人员更可能听从并一道解决问题。

尝试把估算做得更准确吧。这样的团队最终会被视为平等的伙伴，这将帮助团队成功敏捷。

Is Your Team Viewed as an Equal Partner by Business Stakeholders?

Have you ever told your stakeholders that a deadline they want you to meet is impossible?

Was their response to tell you to meet the deadline anyway?

If so, there’s a power imbalance in your organization.

In many organizations, business stakeholders hold the most power. What they say goes. If they insist on a deadline, the development organization needs to figure out how to make it so.

In other organizations, power is skewed toward the development organization. Developers here can resist any deliverables that aren’t safely achievable.

It’s not good to be in either of these extreme positions.

Instead, leaders should strive to create a culture in which power is equally distributed between business-side stakeholders and the development organization.
 
When power is balanced between the business and developers, problems like how to achieve a deadline become shared problems.

When wanting too much or wanting it too soon is a shared problem, developers and stakeholders must work together to find the optimal solution. Some of the solutions they may consider could be:

• Dropping functionality

• Adding people

• Extending the date

• Removing other demands on the team’s time

• Or a combination of these and other solutions

But how does a development team achieve this balance with their stakeholders if it doesn’t already exist?

One of the best ways is by providing accurate estimates.

Think about it this way. Suppose a team is horrible at estimating. They say one project will take 3 months and it takes 4. The next project is estimated to take 5 months, but takes 8. Then a 4-month estimate is finished in 3 months.

Would you believe this team when they then told you a deadline was impossible?

No, of course not. Such a team has no credibility when they say a deadline can’t be met.
But you would believe a team that had established a track record of providing reasonably reliable, accurate estimates.

A team that does that has earned credibility. So when that team says that a deadline is impossible, stakeholders are more likely to listen--and help find solutions.

This is an important benefit to teams that learn how to produce accurate, reliable estimates and plans. Those teams will ultimately be treated as equal partners by their business stakeholders, which will help them succeed with agile,

Mike